Taraji P. Henson

Actress Taraji P. Henson began to catch the attention of film audiences with supporting roles in John Singleton's "Baby Boy" (2001) and "Four Brothers" (2005), but her breakout performance opposite Te...
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"We're like father and daughter, mother and son, brother and sister. We've never been lovers. When I was doing Hustle & Flow, I was like, 'I know I'm playing this character right if all my female co-leads want to sleep with me'. Taraji was the only one that didn't want to." Terrence Howard on his special relationship with Hustle & Flow and Empire co-star Taraji P. Henson.

Empire has been such a huge success and a lot of that has to do with Taraji P. Henson. Her character Cookie is very complicated. She has a hard exterior, but is a softy deep down. She's has truly started from the bottom, and is not afraid to claim what she is owed at the top.
1. When you get really angry, you tend to throw things.
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2. You're also not afraid to throw down in public.
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3. But you're valuable because you're a hustler.
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4. Everyone calls you by a nickname and it's infamous.
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5. You're loving and accepting of others, but you're not always politically correct.
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6. You're not afraid to show what you're working with!
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7. You don't give up on others.
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8. Shade is your first language.
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9. Your fashion sense includes animal print and acrylic nails.
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10. You're not afraid to tell someone when they're not being real.
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How are you like Cookie? Tweet us what similarities you two have using the Twitter handles below!
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Mary J. Blige has become the latest star to land a guest role on Lee Daniels' hit new music drama Empire. Supermodel Naomi Campbell, Jennifer Hudson, Courtney Love and Rita Ora have also secured appearances on the TV show, which stars Terrence Howard as a dying hip-hop mogul and Taraji P. Henson as his ex-wife.

Terrence Howard has Taraji P. Henson to thank for landing him a leading role in hit TV series Empire after she suggested her Hustle & Flow co-star would be a better fit than Wesley Snipes. The Iron Man actor reveals filmmaker Lee Daniels, the brains behind the hit new music industry drama, was already in talks with Snipes when Henson auditioned for the part of Cookie Lyon, the scorned former wife of hip-hop mogul Lucious Lyon, and revealed she would only sign on if Howard was cast as her onscreen ex.
Howard admits he was hesitant to take on another "bad guy" role, but he quickly saw the potential in Empire and knew he had been offered a choice job.
He says, "Taraji, she tried to get me to do (her 2014 crime thriller) No Good Deed. I didn't want to play the bad guy in that, I'm always hiding away from the bad guy stuff, but I'm a professional bad guy, I dig it.
"They had Wesley Snipes, they were talking to him about it (Empire lead). She was like, 'I dig Wesley, but if you can get Terrence, I'll do it with Terrence. If you can't get Terrence, bye...' Lee was offended, but he was like, 'This b**ch is Cookie Lyon.' Lee called me and I was like, 'All right, I'm in.'"

"I'm a bit of a voyeur. I like to watch people, because you never know what role you're gonna play, so I was at a strip club and one of the women was a huge fan. She had no clothes on - nothing on her hoo-ha, nothing on her hoo-hoos - and she has her thong in her hand and she goes, 'Oh my God! I love you!' and she's coming at me! I'm like (pushing her away), 'Oh my God, hi! I love you too!'" Oscar nominee Taraji P. Henson on the weirdest place she's been recognised.

Tom Hanks eased actress Taraji P. Henson's nerves after she was left "embarrassed" following her performance of Hustle & Flow song It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp during the Academy Awards. The Empire star, along with co-star Terrence Howard and rappers Three 6 Mafia and Cedric Coleman, took to the stage during the Oscars prizegiving in 2006 to perform the hit track, which won Best Original Song at the ceremony.
But Henson admits she felt extremely uncomfortable singing it at the annual event, particularly because of its subject matter.
In an interview on U.S. chat show The Talk, Henson explained, "It was quite embarrassing, because there are people there that I really admire like Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks, and I'm up on stage singing about pimps and whores at the most conservative show on television. But they were out there rocking! As I was singing the song, I just looked above everyone's head."
Following the performance, Henson ran into nice guy Hanks, who helped the actress relax after the nerve-wracking experience.
She said, "When I went backstage, I saw Tom Hanks. I said, 'I'm so sorry! I'm just singing about Bs (b**ches) and hoes and pimps and he pulled his publicist over and said, 'Oh that's okay! I call her a B everyday!
"But that's just a testament of how sweet he is. He just made me feel so much better about it. I was like, 'Okay, if you say so!'"

Oscar-nominated civil rights drama Selma and U.S. TV comedy Black-Ish were among the big winners at the 2015 NAACP Image Awards on Friday (06Feb15). The Martin Luther King, Jr. biopic earned director Ava DuVernay the Outstanding Motion Picture prize, while her leading man David Oyelowo took home the best actor honour at the Los Angeles ceremony.
There were also prizes for Selma supporting actors Common and Carmen Ejogo, who portrayed King, Jr.'s wife, Coretta.
Taraji P. Henson was a double winner, walking away as best movie actress for thriller No Good Deed and earning the Entertainer of the Year title.
In the TV categories, Black-ish dominated the comedy section, with event host Anthony Anderson and his onscreen wife Tracee Ellis Ross scoring the top acting accolades, while co-stars Laurence Fishburne and Yara Shahidi won the supporting honours. The programme was also named Outstanding Comedy Series.
Shonda Rhimes' hit shows also emerged victorious, with How to Get Away with Murder landing Outstanding Drama Series and Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series for Viola Davis, and Scandal's Joe Morton and Khandi Alexander earning the supporting acting titles.
Meanwhile, in the music categories, Pharrell Williams was named Outstanding Male Artist and Beyonce took home the female equivalent, as Sam Smith and Mary J. Blige claimed the Outstanding Duo, Group or Collaboration prize for their hit song Stay With Me.
John Legend's You & I (Nobody in the World) was awarded Outstanding Music Video and new mum Alicia Keys scored Outstanding Song for We Are Here.
Music mogul Clive Davis received the Vanguard Award, in recognition of his work regarding racial and social issues and director Spike Lee was presented with the NAACP President's Award, which celebrates those who have combined career success and public service.
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Image Awards celebrates diversity in film, TV, music and literature.

Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson is set to reunite with her Winnie Mandela co-star Terrence Howard on his new hit music drama Empire. Howard played late South African civil rights leader Nelson Mandela opposite Hudson, who portrayed wife Winnie, in the 2011 biopic, and the former movie couple will reteam on the small screen when she makes a guest appearance on his new TV hit.
The duo also appeared in drama Lullaby in 2014.
Empire centres on the relationship of a conniving music mogul, played by Howard, and his ex-wife, Taraji P. Henson, who demands a cut of the business after spending years behind bars.
The drama, written and produced by filmmaker Lee Daniels, already has a star-studded line-up of guest stars, including Naomi Campbell, Cuba Gooding Jr. and Courtney Love, and Rita Ora is also set to make a cameo on an upcoming episode.

Director Lee Daniels is helping supermodel Naomi Campbell make her big screen acting return by casting her in his upcoming Richard Pryor biopic. The filmmaker recently recruited the British beauty for a recurring role in his new TV drama series Empire, alongside Terrence Howard and Taraji P. Henson, and now Campbell will have a role in his next project, too.
She revealed the news during an interview on U.S. breakfast show Today on Friday (23Jan15) as she discussed her appearance on Empire, saying, "I'm grateful to Lee Daniels (for casting her in Empire)... and also Richard Pryor, his new film, with Oprah (Winfrey), Mike Epps, Kate Hudson."
Campbell stopped short of sharing any further details about her part.
The Hangover funnyman Epps will portray the late comic legend in the new biopic, with Hudson taking on the role of his wife, Jennifer Lee Pryor, and Selma star Oprah Winfrey as his grandmother.
Production is expected to begin at the end of March (15).
Pryor died in 2005, aged 65, after suffering a heart attack.
Campbell last featured on the movie screen in 2009 Bollywood film Karma, Confessions and Holi, while she also previously appeared in 1999 comedy Trippin'.

Rapper Foxy Brown is working with director Lee Daniels in the hopes of landing a guest role on his new hip-hop drama Empire. The Oh Yeah hitmaker has not flexed her acting muscles since making her screen debut in 1998, when she appeared in Jada Pinkett Smith comedy film Woo, but she is eager to test her skills once more by teaming up with Daniels on his first TV series, which airs on America's Fox network.
She recently took to Instagram.com to share a screen grab of a text conversation with the filmmaker, in which Daniels wrote, "We fixin (sic) to turn up Fox on FOX".
Responding to the message, Brown texted, "God is awesome...! Can't wait I'm coming wit it (sic)! I love u my Lee Lee".
She captioned the image, "EMPIRE DYNASTY!!!!!!!! THE MASTERMIND HAS OFFICIALLY SPOKEN!"
Empire stars Terrence Howard as a reformed drug dealer who reinvents himself as a music mogul at the top of a hip-hop empire. Taraji P. Henson co-stars as his ex-wife.

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Worked as a secretary and a singing and dancing waitress to pay for college

Made her debut TV appearance on an episode of The WB sitcom "Smart Guy"

Made film debut in "Streetwise"

Joined the cast of ABC's "Boston Legal" for one season

Joined an ensemble cast for Tyler Perry's "The Family That Preys"

Played Shug, the pregnant prostitute and live-in girlfriend of Terrence Howard in Craig Brewer's "Hustle & Flow"; also made her singing debut, providing the vocals for the Three 6 Mafia track "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp"

Played a former Iraqi soldier turned NYPD homicide detective on the CBS mystery drama "Person of Interest"

Had a small role as a student in the comedy "The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle"

With Three 6 Mafia, performed the song "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp" at the 78th Academy Awards ceremony

Starred in "Tyler Perry's I Can Do Bad All By Myself," written and directed by her film co-star Perry

Joined the cast of the Lifetime series "The Division" as Inspector Raina Washington

Earned positive reviews for her role as the strong-willed girlfriend of Tyrese Gibson's character in John Singleton's "Baby Boy"

Cast in the ensemble comedy "Think Like a Man"

Auditioned for the Duke Ellington School of the Performing Arts, but was not accepted

Cast in the role of Queenie, Benjamin's (Brad Pitt) mother in "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"

Nominated for the 2011 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress In A Miniseries Or A Movie

Joined the cast of the ensemble crime thriller "Smokin' Aces"

Cast in a supporting role opposite Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts in "Larry Crowne"

Summary

Actress Taraji P. Henson began to catch the attention of film audiences with supporting roles in John Singleton's "Baby Boy" (2001) and "Four Brothers" (2005), but her breakout performance opposite Terrence Howard in the acclaimed urban drama "Hustle &amp; Flow" (2005) really set the critical buzz in motion. A virtual unknown when she was flooded with award nominations for her performance and her singing on the film's soundtrack single "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp," Henson's image as a feisty, independent woman led to steady series television work and another round of accolades for the acclaimed period biopic "Talk to Me" (2007). When Henson found herself sharing the screen with Brad Pitt in "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" (2008) the following year, it was clear that her long-held dream of being a respected A-list actress was quickly becoming reality.